Summary: While assisting his grandfather on an
excavation in Egypt for their senior class trip, Yuugi and his friends unleash seven
powerful beings from their millennia-long imprisonment. These strange creatures, who
call themselves "darkness", will bring about a series of life-changing events
for the close-knit group of teenagers.

2,337 words | 2nd draft - 2,631 words

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Looking around the dining tent at the assembled
teens and young adults, Pegasus could not help the feeling of pride that came over
him. Just twelve years ago, he had been an awkward teenager with a pair of black
toon bat wings and an ache in his heart that nothing could fill. Now along with a
true sense of truly belonging to this world, he had his beautiful, brave, innocent and
supportive wife Cynthia, the light to his own darkness, his inspiration and the center of
his universe.

Even better, his shining light's support
throughout all his research had helped him weather the rough times and now . . . now they
were both being rewarded for all their hard work and struggles. They had not only
found others of their kind, but were helping set a terrible ancient misdeed to right, one
that became more and more real with every new darkness he met.

Now with their most recent and very unexpected
arrivals, Pegasus found himself re-evaluating his plans. In all honesty he hadn't
really thought much through beyond finding and bringing the lights to Egypt and then
getting them to release their darker halves from their imprisonment. Looking back he
realized that this had been a very dangerous and foolish maneuver on his part. Atem
was a pharaoh that almost all record of had been obliterated, leaving Pegasus with no idea
just how powerful the man was or if he could pose a threat to others. The same could
be said of the Atlantean king, Dartz whose entire kingdom seemed to have vanished from the
face of the earth, becoming a legend in itself, leaving even less information on him than
there was of Atem. Then there was the newest darkness, the High Priest Seth, a man
who to an ordinary person appeared to be an almost polar opposite of Seto Kaiba, yet to
one who could sense auras it was clear Seth was a dark. After meeting Seth the
silver-haired man wondered just how much of Kaiba's ruthless behavior was simply an act.
It also made him very wary of angering the former priest.

Furthering his anxiety was the fact that all
three men unconsciously radiated power and Pegasus was quick to realize that he was very
fortunate that they all seemed to be benevolent and kind, though he feared what they might
do if one of their lights were harmed.

((Stop worry over what might happen, my love))
Cynthia told him, sensing his apprehensive line of thought. ((The other darks are
good men and like you they are completely devoted to the ones they love.))

((They're so powerful though. And there are
still only three of them free,)) he replied, sharing his worries with his wife.

((Then we should be extra grateful that they are
good at heart,)) she reassured him, strong in her beliefs that the other darks would not
harm anyone unprovoked.

Spotting the recently freed ms-n hwi
strategically positioned around the tent, the silver haired man found himself uttering a
small prayer that no one would provoke the ancient warriors or their light and dark
charges. It could spell a disaster of the greatest proportions that he was ill
prepared to handle.

When Yuugi and Atem had approached him earlier
this morning, he'd had no idea they'd be bringing seven new arrivals with them. The older
man had been expecting four new darks, not one Atlantean princess and six
bodyguard/warriors that there had been little to no mention of in his findings. Still,
hed recovered from his shock admirably and made the necessary arrangements
accordingly.

Now with both ancient beings and reincarnations
all relaxed and together, Pegasus decided to use this time to observe them interact with
one another and hopefully learn something about the Egyptian ms-n hwi and
Atlantean knights whose true names he had never found, but whose carvings had inspired
some of his most beloved and rare cards.

He found himself starting with Mana, the
apprentice "Black Magician" girl. The first word that had popped into his
mind after watching the girl bound into the tent was "perky". Dressed in
some of her reincarnated wife's clothing, Mana was a forest green-eyed ball of energy with
long, slightly spiky, dark brown hair. Since her arrival, the young woman had been
cheerfully glomping on to every person in turn, exchanging greetings and then
releasing them to move on to the next person in range.

Following her exuberant entrance had been the
married couple of Mahaado and Kisara. Mahaado was an imposing man who stood just a
couple inches shorter than Seth. He carried himself with a serious air that everyone
around him seemed to delight in disrupting. Pegasus got the impression that the
young man was far more serious than he was needed or expected to behave. Atem had
introduced him as the Black Magician, the most powerful natural magic wielder in the
history of their kingdom. The handsome man still garbed in his purple battle armor
and carrying a long, teal staff, had dark gray eyes that seemed to be constantly scanning
for signs of trouble. It wasn't until his wife came over and sat on his lap that he
changed into his less formal robes and Pegasus was able to see the young man's long dark
brown hair.

Then there was Mahaado's wife Kisara, who was an
enigma in herself. Egyptian born like the others, she strangely possessed pale white
skin and long, bright white hair, while her eyes were a deep, vibrant blue.
Apparently, this was a reflection of her dragon form: a large powerful beast with
pure white scales and deep blue eyes. Looking at her it was hard to believe that
such a slight and delicate woman was one of Egypt's most powerful warriors.

The Atlanteans were an equally fascinating
group. The three knights were dragon-type shape shifters like Kisara and according
to Dartz, were the greatest warriors of Atlantis. Though each man possessed a
similar serious aura like Mahaado, not one of them seemed quite as rigid as the
magician. Strangely, the three men bore striking resemblances to some of the
Egyptians.

Timaeus had red hair that fell in long spikes
down his back, with short spiky bangs in front that framed his angular blue-violet
eyes. Or eye rather. The Atlantean knight had apparently suffered a severe
injury at some point; one that had robbed him of his right eye and left a deep vertical
scar over it that crossed down to just above his cheek. His features bore a striking
resemblance to Atem's, so close that if one were to change his pale skin for an Egyptian
tan, he would probably be mistaken for a relative of the Pharaoh's. (That and he
stood a full head taller than the pharaoh.)

Critias stood a little taller than Timaeus and
had shoulder-length, sandy blond hair, with bangs cut neatly above his gray-violet eyes
and could easily be mistaken as Seto Kaiba's previously unknown older brother.

Then there was third knight, Hermos, who was
shorter than Critias but taller then Timaeus and had bright yellow eyes and messy, light
brown hair. Forgiving the hair and eye color, he could be mistaken for Katsuya
Jonouchi's long-lost twin.

Last was probably the most surprising of the lot.
Running about the tent in play, the Atlantean princess, Chris was someone Pegasus had
never dreamed of seeing. When no records had been found of the little girls fate, he
simply assumed that the child had either been killed with the others or smuggled out by
palace staff and sent into hiding.

After all the surprises hed been handed
today, seeing the little girl and her parents interact made all the stress and worry he
was going through feel worthwhile.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Skipping across the tent, Yuugi took hold of one
of Mahaado's hands in an attempt to drag him away from the wall to sit down. Now
that he had gotten a sufficient amount of sleep, the small teen was eager to learn as much
as possible from the tall mage whom he now knew to be the inspiration behind his favorite
Duel Monster. The purple armor-clad ms-n hwi did attempt to put up some
form of resistance, but quickly found himself melting under the devastating force of
Yuugi's amethyst "chibi" eyes. 'By the gods, how can he retain such
power?' the man railed to himself as he was lead to a seat next to the pharaoh and his
light.

Yuugi on the other hand, was practically bouncing
in his chair in his excitement. He'd always wanted to meet someone who could do
"real" magic and while he knew that he and Atem had Shadow magic, Mahaado was
the "Black Magician". Plus, he had grown up with his darkness, so was sure
to have some great stories from their childhood.

The mage was about to make one last ditch attempt
to escape when his lovely mate joined them. Magically changing his hard battle armor
into the much more comfortable linen robes, the slender, delicate-seeming Kisara seated
herself on her husband's lap and leaned back against his chest. Stifling a sigh of
defeat, he smiled a bit nervously at his Pharaoh's light and resigned himself to breaking
the unwritten rules to body-guarding.

((Beloved, at times you are far too formal,)) his
lovely wife chided him, knowing that inside his mind, her powerful husband was rolling his
eyes at her even as he carefully answered Yuugi's question.

Seated next to Yuugi, their pharaoh was having a
great deal of difficulty not showing his amusement. Mahaado had always been far too
serious for his own good, even when they were children, but he seemed to have met his
match in Yuugi and Kisara.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Nearby, Hanasaki was trying to explain to his
daughter what had happened after he'd hid her and why things were so different from
before. After a couple of aborted attempts, the frustrated teen's gaze fell on Seto
and he got an idea.

She nodded vigorously, her new pigtails bobbing
with the motion, "Uh-huh, he's the little boy with the pretty blue eyes," she
answered.

Tomoya smiled, "Well, you remember how your
father and I told you that me and the other lights had to be born again?"
Receiving an affirmative nod he continued, "Well, this time we all got born really
close together." he said before calling Kaiba over to them.

"Kaiba-kun, I'd like you to meet my daughter
Chris. Chris, this is Seth's light, Seto Kaiba," the orange-haired teen
introduced them again for the first time in three thousand years.

Kaiba nodded politely while Chris stared up at
the tall teen. Despite being only nine, she was a very smart little girl and it
didn't take long for her to recognize the adorable boy in the face and eyes of the
handsome teen.

"Wow Seto, you got really tall!" she
exclaimed, staring up at her former friend in surprise.

Smiling, he reached down and ruffled her brunette
hair fondly, "Maybe you'll get lucky and take after your father more. Then
you'll be tall too." He told the girl, smirking at the now-fuming, bespectacled
teen that was her "mother's" reincarnation. Oblivious to his subtle insult
to her "mother", Chris beamed happily at him, her gray eyes sparkling in delight
as she watched him leave to rejoin his lovers. Off to the side, the three
knights: Timeaus, Criteaus, and Hermos were all struggling not to laugh at the
"little priest's" subtle joke at the other light's expense.

Despite his irritation at having been the victim
of yet another short joke, Tomoya was relieved that his daughter understood and appeared
to be okay with all the changes. Now all that remained was introducing his extended
family to his current one.

"Uh-oh," the teen muttered out loud,
imagining his parents' reactions.

"What's wrong?" father and daughter
asked in unison, worried by the distressed expression on the gray-eyed teen's face.

He sighed heavily, "I was just thinking
about when I'll have to introduce you to my mom and dad . . . and they are not going to
believe any of this."

Dartz wrapped an arm around his shoulders
comfortingly, "I'm sure it will be all right, my love. I will be right there
beside you when you introduce us."

"Yeah but . . ." he trailed off,
picking up the conversation through their mind link so as not to upset Chris. ((You
don't understand! Same sex relationships aren't accepted everywhere! I don't
even know if my parents will even want me around after I tell them!))

((Calm yourself beloved. It does not matter
what they say or do. I will always love you and will remain at your side from now
until the end of our lives and into the afterlife. And if they choose to sever ties
from you, then they will never know the precious love of their granddaughter or any of the
other children we will have.)) He assured his light, pressing a kiss to his brow.

"You know," Tomoya said out loud,
"Even if they accept the fact that I'm gay. Explaining that I'm the soul mate
and husband to the last king of Atlantis, gave birth to our ten year-old daughter over
three thousand years ago, and have three over protective knights guarding us all is going
to be impossible to convince them of."

Dartz laughed happily and hugged his lover,
"I'm sure we will find a way."

Hugging his daughter back, Tomoya tilted his head
up to give his darkness a kiss on the cheek. "You're both right. I should
try and think positive about this."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Eventually the idle chitchat died down and the
three ancient darkness brought up the subject of deciding which of their fellow yami's
should be released next.

"I recommend Bakura. He's next in
power and will probably be in the worst mood of all of us. Then depending on how
long it takes to get him calm and explain everything, we can release either Otogi or
Marik," Seth suggested, knowing that strategically these were their best choices.

"Otogi," Atem answered with no
hesitation.

"Why?" Dartz asked as, not having lived
with the two men in question, was curious as to the other men's reasoning.

Atem shook his head wryly, "You're better
off not knowing. Suffice it to say that throughout our lives, whenever Bakura and
Marik were both around, only his older sister Isis and her mate stood a chance at reining
them in.

Gold eyes blinked in surprise, "I see."

Noting the resigned expressions on both Jou and
Anzu's faces made Yuugi, Hanasaki, Pegasus, and Cynthia all quite curious and apprehensive
about what the following twenty-four hours would bring. And while they all had
questions and concerns, it was Yuugi that brought up the most important question.

"Jonouchi-kun? Who is Bakura's
hikari?" he asked, his wide, amethyst eyes filled with concern. He thought that
a light and darkness were born for each other, but from the way they all were talking . .
.

The blond teen grinned and started shaking his
head, "Ryou is. And knowing them both I can honestly say that I'm not sure
who's going to have more trouble or which one I should feel sorry for."

Anzu rolled her eyes and smacked the blond on the
head, "Baka! Quit making Yuugi worry! Ryou and Bakura are akhu
and kkwy. They're already perfect for each other! It's anyone else
they might come across that will have any trouble." she finished on a knowing smirk.